During a recent interview on MMA Fighting’s The MMA Hour, Lerone Murphy, recounted the story of how he got his nickname ‘The Miracle’ after he survived getting shot in the face as he was walking out of his local barbershop in May of 2013.
Here’s how Murphy explains the shooting that took place more than eight years ago.
“I’m just going to say it like it’s nothing because I’ve told it so many times but, I was young, 21-years-old or whatever. I was coming out of the barber(shop) and I ended up getting shot in the face. Drive by,” said Murphy.
Murphy says he still has no idea who did this to him or whether or not they were ever caught.
“I don’t know. I don’t know who wanted to—I don’t know. It’s just one of them areas isn’t it. Things happen.”
In order to survive, Murphy underwent a throat tracheostomy which is when a hole is made through the front of the neck and into the windpipe, where doctors then place a tube into the hole to keep it open for breathing.
“(The bullet went) through my mouth,” said Murphy. “I lost a few teeth on that side, and I had to get a tracheostomy through my throat.
“Because the bullet went through my tongue, my mouth started to swell up and I couldn’t breathe. So they had to do the tracheostomy through my throat.”
“Yeah, I remember everything,” said Murphy regarding the initial feeling of getting shot. “Yeah, it just felt like I got punched in the face. It just felt like I got dropped, went out for a few seconds and then woke back up and it’s just like Call of Duty, ringing in my ears. I got back up and just went to the hospital.”
“As soon as I got out of the hospital I went (back), I got a haircut. Stupid now that I think of it, but I did. I’ve got a different barber now, but yeah.”
Luckily, Murphy’s cousin was there with him when he got shot, and was the one who drove him to the hospital, saving his life in the long-run.
